Dozens is a highly ambitious all in one wealth management tool, including a UK current account, saving account and investment manager.
The mission of the company is to help you save by going through the spender to saver journey. But can this new app really save you money? Or is it just another fintech that you should skip?
The Dozens Current Account (Spend)
The primary part of the app is a full UK current account. As part of this, Dozens provides you with a Visa physical card, as well as a virtual card. All of the details of these cards (including CVV) are available in the app, which is super convenient for online shopping.
Dozens have also recently added direct debits, meaning you’d struggle to find features in other current accounts that aren’t available.
Unfortunately, there is no way to pay in cheques or cash with your Dozens account, which I hope they are able to add in the future.
The app also has all the features you’d expect from a modern fintech including instant spending notifications, Apple Pay, Google Pay and a detailed transaction timeline with retailer logos.
The spend tab also has a visuals section, which offers many useful graphics offering deep insight into your spending.
These are useful for determining what sort of spender you are and then acting on it. For example, I can see from mine that I may spend too much on small purchases, with these being the majority of transactions.
This includes the top retailers where you have spent (no surprise to see Amazon be mine!), as well as a couple of average spent charts.
The spending heatmap is another interesting feature, which may help you learn more about the timing of your transactions.
For now, you have to analyse these yourself for useful insights. Although, I would love to see Dozens develop this even further by offering advice based on my account usage.
For example, how much I could save every month by bringing lunch instead of eating out.
Budgeting (Track)
The budgeting system within Dozens is the best I have come across in a current account.
Budgets are set on a monthly schedule. Although you can set your regular income to be weekly, monthly or even daily.
You then set how you expect to spend your money every month on regular expenses. For example, you may make a category for transport if you travel to work.
These are intelligently selected using the retailer name, category or payee. For example, you may set any Trainline purchase to come out of your travel budget.
Once your regular expenses are accounted for, Dozens shows how much you have left to spend each month.
Dozens will then tell you how much you have to spent today, this week and this month. These will adjust as you spend more on some days than others.
Dozens Savings (Grow)
Dozens currently offer two saving options. The first of these is a saving account (called cash savings). These have smart saving rules called Dozens rules, which allow you to add a weekly or monthly boost to your savings.
They also offer a roundup feature, similar to those on Monzo and Starling. So that when you spend, the transaction is rounded to the nearest £1, and this is added to your savings.
Another option is the IFTTT, which connect to the service to allow you to add to your savings with almost limitless options. For example, adding to your rainy-day fund on sunny days.
Unfortunately, as Dozens aren’t a bank, they can’t offer you interest on these savings. The 5% bonds are their solution to this.
The 5% Bonds
The Dozens bonds are a form of savings which offer you 5% fixed 12-month interest on the amount you put in.
Unlike traditional savings accounts, these are limited to a bidding process. There is no set limit on how much you can bid. However, Dozens has a limited amount (usually £100,000) every month, to allocate to these bonds.
This works by everyone entering how much they want to save, and then Dozens allocating the bids based on smaller amounts first.
If your bid is rejected, then you have all of your money returned into your savings account.
If your bid is accepted, then you will receive the interest monthly into your savings account. The money you put in will be released at the end of the 12 months.
You can sell your bid at any time and get back all the money you put in, and keep the interest you earnt during that period.
Dozens also allows you to put your Stocks and Shares ISA with them, allowing you to earn interest and investment returns tax free.
The Dozens Investment Account (Invest)
The final part of the spender to saver journey in Dozens, is the investment account.
This allows you to easily invest in a variety of diversified funds such as BlackRock Consensus and Vanguard LifeStrategy. As well as some themes such as renewable energy and technology.
Investments are made completely in-app. First, you set a goal of your investment (such as a wedding, retirement or new home).
Then you complete an affordability check to make sure the investment is affordable. This scores you with 1 to 5 and stops you from investing you in too risky strategies for your scenario.
You can then purchase your investment in-app, and can choose a general investment account (GIA) or Stocks and Shares ISA.
I think Dozens is the ideal financial partner and has helped massively simplify my financial life by having this all in one app.
What do you think? Will you give Dozens a try? What could they bring out that would convince you to make the switch? Leave it in the comments!